HOW I WILL HELP GOLD COAST
JORDAN Murdoch says he was blindsided by Geelong’s decision to delist him, but is excited about a fresh start at the Gold Coast Suns.
Murdoch, 26, was wanted by St Kilda, but chose the Suns after being “blown away” by coach Stuart Dew.
He will join the struggling expansion club on a three-year deal after a 108-game career at Geelong in which he was on the winning side 72 times.
“I’m really confident with where my footy is at and what I’ll be able to bring to Gold Coast,” Murdoch said.
“My wife Em and I, when we flew up there to meet with them it was a bit daunting and you probably go into it having reservations.
“But we were blown away and we’d pretty much made our decision by the time we got back into the airport to fly back to Melbourne.
“I did meet with the Saints, did a medical and had really good conversations with (list manager) James Gallagher and Alan Richardson … it was definitely an option and Em and I talked about it for hours and hours.
“It was a very tough decision, I can’t stress that enough. But at the end of the day I’m really excited to get up to the Gold Coast.
“A clean start is probably what I want as well, to get out of the Melbourne fishbowl and enjoy helping set up a culture for hopefully years of success in the future.”
Murdoch was last month put on the trade table by the Cats before being axed when a deal failed to materialise.
The pacy winger said he did not see it coming.
“To be completely honest, I was a little bit relieved at the end of trade period when I hadn’t got a trade,” Murdoch said.
“I felt that meant that I was going to stay at Geelong where I was happy and have a lot of good friends and great relationships within the club.
“So it was a bit of a disappointment and I didn’t get much reason for it other than it was just the way the club wanted to go and that they’d already made their decision.
“But look, a couple of weeks is a long time in footy. At the end of the day it’s probably turned into a blessing in disguise and I’m really looking forward to the new opportunity.”
Murdoch said Daniel Menzel, who was also delisted on Geelong Cup day, was too good a player to not continue at the top level and backed him to get another chance, with Sydney the likely suitor.
“I absolutely love playing with the guy and having him as a teammate and clubmate and I’m pretty certain he’s going to be on an AFL list next year,” he said.
“He is just a great person for a club to have. I’m more sad that the chances are I probably won’t play with him again.”